


Four

by tbsavafob6



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Flirting, M/M, murderhusbandsnetwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-15
Updated: 2014-06-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 17:04:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1786588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tbsavafob6/pseuds/tbsavafob6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had four first meetings. The first, neither would really remember. Not til it had long past. The third is when they began to notice each other. The fourth time wasn’t really an accident at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Four

**Author's Note:**

> I did this for the murderhusbandsnetwork challenge on tumblr. The prompt was:
> 
> "What if Hannibal and Will had met previously?"
> 
> An unbetaed, short fic for a wonderful network.

They had four first meetings. The first, neither would really remember. Not til it had long past. The third is when they began to notice each other. The fourth time wasn’t really an accident at all.

~

When Hannibal was around the age of 19, his uncle and aunt decided they need a trip to the United States, much to Hannibal’s displeasure. He was old enough to say no, but the look of disappointment on Lady Murasaki’s face prevented this.

 

How they ended up near a small port city was lost to him. He stopped listening when practice for his English was mentioned. He missed his uncle’s idea of exploring the ‘real’ American locals. He probably would have mentioned that all Americans were local, no matter where they lived.

 

How he ended up in a boatyard was also beyond him, except that this was his own fault. Then a soft, young voice drew his attention. “Are you coming to work here?” He looked down at a young boy with dark, messy hair. “Are you lost?”

 

 Hannibal wondering what would be the best way to scare boy away. He stopped when he saw the nervousness in those dark blue eyes. “No. Are you?” The boy only shook his head no. “Are you in the habit of talking to strangers in boatyards?”

 

“No.” The small face had a look of contemplation. “You looked sad.”

 

“Will!” A loud voice called.

 

“I’m sorry.” The boy, Will, left. Hannibal assumed that would be the last he ever saw him.

~

Long after the first encounter was forgotten, they met a second time. Hannibal was a rising star in the medical field. He was considered one of the best new surgeons at John Hopkins. This is how he ended up at a dinner party in Louisiana. And this where one of his unfortunate colleagues was found dead in the bathroom.

 

Will was just a young cop sent in for crowd control. The last thing he wanted was to be surrounded by rich, medical professionals constantly asking happened and when they could go home, as if the death didn’t matter.

 

Both men found this evening to be incredibly inconvenient.

 

“Sir, I will let you know when you can go home. Now please, be patient.” Will watched as the older man just grumbled away.

 

“You seem as bored with this evening as I am.”

 

Will looked to find Hannibal Lecter speaking with him. “Have you come to ask when you can leave as well?”

 

“No. Just have a simple conversation.” Hannibal, for some reason, found him interesting.

 

“You know I’m working, right?”

 

Hannibal had a look around. “Does this look a crowd that will riot? This is a place to build your reputation, not toy with it.”

 

“Yet you are talking to me.”

 

“They won’t notice.” Hannibal held out his hand. “Dr. Hannibal Lecter.”

 

Will shook Hannibal’s hand. “Will Graham.” He smiled. “You must me a charmer.”

 

Hannibal noticed some oddities in Will. “Not fond of eye contact?”

 

The small smile on Will’s face left him. “I need to get back to work.”

 

“I apologize. That was rude.”

 

“Most people don’t notice. Of course, you would. Some doctor in the middle of a crime scene.”

 

“It wasn’t really a crime, or you would be looking at the body. Tell me, how much can you see right now?”

 

Will gave Hannibal a once over. “As much as you apparently. You think you’re better than everyone here.”

 

“Yet I chose to speak to you. How does that make you feel?”

 

“You are a dangerous man Dr. Lecter.”

 

“I suspect you are as well.”

 

Will’s two-way sprang to life. He walked without saying goodbye. Hannibal wondered why he did not feel contempt over this.

~

The third time meeting, Hannibal’s days as a surgeon were almost over. His new career as a leading psychiatrist in Baltimore was about to begin. As for Will, this was his last day working Homicide for the Baltimore PD.

 

“Dr. Lecter.” A nurse was frantically trying to catch him. “I know you are about to leave, but we need you. The new doctor isn’t here yet and we have a patient in urgent need.”

 

Hannibal nodded and began to follow the nurse. “The injury?”

 

“Stab wound to the shoulder. It may have knicked the brachial artery. We must get there right away.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“One more thing. He’s a cop, so it’s a…”

 

“Delicate situation.”

 

“Precisely.”

~

When Will woke up, he didn’t know exactly where he was; only that it had white walls, uncomfortable bedding, and fantastic painkillers. The word hospital popped in his head not long after a nurse walks in to check on him. He could see her exhaustion, but she continued to work.

 

“Mr. Graham. It’s good to see you’re awake.” She was look over his shoulder. Oh right. He was stabbed. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Like I’m awake but I’m still floating.”

 

“Your surgeon wants to speak with you. I don’t really know why. He’s not your main doctor now.”

 

“Probably wants to bask in the glory. Or know my dashing personality.”

The nurse actually laughed at that one. Maybe the drugs did enhance his personality. “I think it has more to do with you being his last surgical patient. I’ll go get him right now.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome.” She smiled, leaving the room. “I forgot to ask her name.”

 

“Officer William Graham.” Will looked up to see a very familiar face. Didn’t the nurse just leave?

 

“I know you.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Will reached far back into his mind. “You’re that pretentious doctor I met all those years ago. I think you were flirting.”

 

“You lack a filter when on pain medication.”

 

Will shook his head no. “That’s most of the time. Can’t risk meeting someone like you again.”

 

“Yet here we are.”

 

“So you were the one who saved my life?” Hannibal didn’t say anything. He waited. “Thank you. The nurse, she said I was your last patient.”

 

“I am leaving surgery. I find the mind to be far more fascinating.”

 

Will laughed. “Putting your talents to good use. I wonder if we’ll meet again.”

 

“It is a strange coincidence.”

 

“No, but I have lived in half the United States, maybe more. I have seen an endless number of faces, all spinning around. Yet I met you three times.”

 

“Three times?”

 

“You have a distinctive face Hannibal Lecter. I had forgotten it. Whatever this stuff is, it’s helped me remember you. Must feel strange that you don’t.” Will watched as the walls began to blur. “I think I need to rest. It’s not every day you celebrate the end of your career as a detective.”

 

“Will we meet again?”

 

“I have no doubts.”

 

They would not meet again for four years.

~

The moment Hannibal walked into Jack’s office Will wanted to laugh. He had not looked for Hannibal. Hannibal had found him, through Jack of all people. Hannibal caught up to him before he could sneak away in his truck. They stood alone in a parking garage full of cars.

 

“So we actually did meet again. Tell me, are you really working on my profile, or was this a rude way of saying hello, I never forgot you.” Will was standing next to a rusted truck. Hannibal stood less than a foot away from him.

 

“I apologize for my analytical ambush.”

 

“What do you want from me?”

 

“A simple conversation. Come to my home. I would like to cook for you.”

 

Will leaned against his old vehicle. “You never corrected me when I said you were flirting.”

 

Hannibal stepped closer.  “It was, unnecessary.”

 

“I’m in the middle of a case, and you’re asking me to dinner.” Will really did laugh this time. “And this was after attempting to psychoanalyze me in front of Jack for the sake of a date.”

 

“Is this a refusal?”

 

“God dammit.” Will pulled Hannibal into a kiss. Hannibal was left in shock. “I’ve wanted to do that since the dinner party. You left an impression.”

 

“That was, forward.”

 

“It was my turn to leave an impression.” Will finally pulls his keys out of his pocket. He opened the door. “As for dinner, you have to wait till I’m done with this case.”

 

“I will let Jack know you refused to allow me to study you.”

 

“That can wait till later.” Will winked as he stepped into his old truck and left.

 

Hannibal smiled to himself. That had gone better than planned. “I look forward to our dinner.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's a bit rushed. I think I could have done better.
> 
> This is the first fic I have posted anywhere since 2007.


End file.
